Metal cap



C. HAMMER METAL CAP Filed Dec. 14, 1923 I INYENTOR (7262 n 625,152? 1/2 r1761;

' i The present invention therefore an Patented Au'g. 4, i

. ,UNITED STATES 1,548,459 PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES, HAMMER, or norms conn'r noutnvann, NEW YORK.

mn'mr. car.

-App1ication med December 14, 1923. Serial at. 680,585.

li T-o all avkotn it may concern:

- Be it known thatI, CHARLES HAMIMER, a

r :citizen of'the United States, residing at .to engage under the .Hollis Court Boulevard, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have in: vented certain new and useful Improvements in Metal Caps, of which the following is a specification.-

This invention relates to metal caps or closures and to the method of making the same, an object of the invention being to vprovide an improved metal cap having increased holding efliciency upon the container, and also to provide a package comprismg a container and closure so constructed that the backward turning of the cap on the container is prevented whereby the premature release of the cap is. avoided.

: An, object of the invention is the-provision of an improved metal cap or closure having a locking or holdin projectionin' position read, lug, or projection of a container and an additional holding release of the cap.

means for engaging a container projection 'orthread on the outer face thereof which will assist in centeringand holding the cap on the container and prevent the premature A further object "0f the invention is the provision of an improved metal cap or "closureparticularly adapted for use with glass containers of the bottle or jar form having divided or interrupted threads or projections, which cap can be made of rel atively thin sheet metal in a comparatively inexpensive 'andeflicient manner, and in which the top is provided with a depending skirt having a strengthened, rolled or curled lower edge, thereby preventing the cutting of the hands of the user and theexposure of the raw edge to the action of rust and acids, etc., and from which curled edge the,

holding projections or lugs are formed, and between which projections and the top of the cap are located suitable reinforcements shown in the form of strengthening corrugations, serving among other advantages to strengthen the cap, flange, and projections, and which'skirt in the present instance, at

the rear of each holding or locking lug is vprovided with an enlarged or deepened corrugation in position to engage the outer face of the container thread and thereby act as an additional means for holding the cap onto the container.

improvement upon the caps shown and described in my 1,079,238 and 1,440,990, dated respectively November 18, 1913 and January 2, 1923, in which the holding lugs are formed from the curled edge of the cap. These two caps have proved very successful and many millions thereof have been sold and when the glass container threads with which they are Zused are uniformly and properly made, the ,c ps hold on the container with great efiiciency. But as the container projections or threads are inclined downwardly toward the usual shoulder of the container and the lugs are more or less horizontally located,

two prior Patents Nos.

these lugs tend to-slip backward or ride up the inclined under face of the glass thread under certain conditions, and thus the cap turns oil the container. This, occurs when 'the threads of the glass containers are not are below the minimum size for which the caps are designed they do not fit as tightly as they should and are liable, and in fact do, under these conditions come off. Furthermore as the capsare not infrequently applied by hand, it follows that if the cap is too forcibly applied, as by an operator. 119N125 atoq powerful grip, the cap maybe fore too far on to the container and the skirt stretched, so that the cap doesnot hold as efliciently as it should. In other instances where the container threads are small and then are below the minimum size the cap will not fit at all;

It has also been' th'e common practice to make these" metal caps with am annular groove in the top thereof forming a V-shaped' projection engagin -the sealing disc or liner usually used toe a tight seal between the linerand the upper edge of the ooh I have found however that when tainer. I unusual pressure is placedcon the cap top it tends to flatten out and so increase the.

distance between the lug and the sealing liner, thus loosening the cap on the container. In other words it is not infrequently the practice to place a box or crate of filled and capped containers, one on top of the other,

and I have found that the weight of such a box on top of the caps therebelow has a tendency to flatten outthis V-shaped groove and so stretch the'top of the'cap and thus slightly enlarge the diameter of the cap top, and while the strengthened or curled lower edge tends to prevent the locking lugs from moving outward, nevertheless,:this stretching or flattening out of. the metal of the top effects the position of the lugs with relation to the threads of the container in such way, especially when the glass thread .is not uniform, that the cap becomes loose in transportation or handling and slips or 1 ars off.

I have also found that when the glass threads are below the minimum size permissible, the tendency of the cap is to slip to one side, thus permitting the other side to ride up and over the glass thread. These various disadvantages however are overcome b the present improvement since when a \Zshaped groove is used in the top of the cap, any flattening out thereof willhave a tendency to increase-instead of decrease the holding efliciency of the cap on the container.

Further more this additional holding means is such that if for any reason the glass threads are defective or below the 'minimum size and the holding lugs do nottherefore as effectively hold, it will hold the cap in place against backward rotation in much the sameway as a lock nut acts to prevent the rotation of the main' holding nut, for it will beobserved that as the enlarged vertical projection contacts with, the outer or front face of the thread, which has no inclination at this point but iscomparativel flat or straight, there is no tendency of t is projection to ride 'up the thread.

Therefore the tendency. of the lug to ride 5 with the front of the thread. To

up the inclined thread is offset and prevented by the engagement of the vertical projection put it in other words the contact portions of the vertical projgction andfthe front. :ofthe thread provi e two relatively flat surfaces one against the other so that there is no tendency of one to move relatively to the other but where aflug engagesan inclined thread the inclination of the thread tends to cause the lug to ride backward under jar, vibratlon or pressure, and this tendency of the lug is in the present improvement prevented by whatmay be well termed the check-nut action. obtained-by the use of the enlarged projection.

Moreover the present improvement. act-s, because of its frlctional contact with the :outer face of .the thread, as a warning to the operator placing the cap on the container, thus preventlng him from forcing it too far on and so stretching the cap. So efiiciently is increased by enlarging a number of corrugations. itjis diflicult to turn the cap on as far as it should be turned to have the hold ing lugs thereof engage under the threads. After considerable experimentation I have found that'the best results are obtained by the provision of one deepened corrugation at the rear of and spaced from each lug, although insome instances more than one corriigation might. be used to advantage depending somewhat upon thenumber of cap lugs. But intthe general run of caps having four holding lugs the best results have been obtained by increasing the depth of one corrugation onl l Thus, the present improvement has the very important advanta e of enabling the cap to hold even thoug the glass thread may be less than the minimum size, and to hold even though the glass thread be a -smallthread. In other words the present improvement makes the cap operative for small threads when heretofore it would be inoperative on sucha form of thread unless especially made for the purpose. Therefore the cap with the present improvement is' more interchangeable with glass containers than was heretofore possible, that is, it can be used with' the size of thread for which the capwas designed or with a container.

having a small thread for which the cap was not designed. Thus, in the present improved cap I have provided two efficient holding means, one in the forin of a horizontal lug or projection preferably formed from the curled edge of the cap and adapted to engage under the glass thread, and the other in the form-of an inwardly extending vertical projection shown as formed from the reinforcements or corrugations of the skirt by increasing the depth of one or more corrugations to engage the outer or front face of the thread and frictionally resist the slipping off of the cap either by any weight which may be placed upon the jars due to the piling of boxes one upon another,

or the piling of jars upon a shelf one upon the other or to other causes.

My experiments have further shown that thedepth of the projection in the skirt need not be so deep as to make it conspicuous or distort the appearance ofthe outer side of the skirt, and yet when of the, proper depth it will efiiciently act to accomplish the pur pose herein set forth. 1 I

That the present improvement-successfully a-ccemplishes its purpose is easily determined by the application ofa cap with the improvement to a container, and then the application of a cap without such improvement, the

frictional resistance of the former before the horizontal lug is forced home being immediately felt by the hand.

In fact it has been estimated that the present improvement increases the elfic-iency of the cap by about one hundred per cent,

that is to say, it permits the capto hold in those instances where. it would .not hold before, and itenables the cap to be used in those instances where it could not be used Y before.

I. believe that I am the first to provide a cap of the character. described having a' holding or locking means preferably in the form of a lug adapted to engage under the thread of a glass container, and also having a projection adapted to engage the outer face or wall of a thread-,of such container,

- holding means with one of the mem rs also taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction ofthe arrows; Fig. 3 is a.

that is, two holding means, one engaging under the thread and the other engaging the outer face of a thread. of the container, whereby one acts as a check uponthe other, thus enabling the cap to hold with more efliciency and also enabling it to be used in instanceswhere thisstyle of cap could not be used heretoforefand also to provide a package comprising a container member and a closure member having coo crating having an. additional holding means cooperating with one of the cooperating holding means of the other member.

In the drawin accompanying and forming a part of th1s specification Fig. 1 illustrates the upper portion of a glass container having this improvedcap applied thereto, the cap being shown in vertical section; Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross sectional View cross sectiona l-view taken on the line 3-3 of F g. 2; Flg. 4.is a cross sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 5.

is a side view of the cap applied to the mouth of a glass container, parts" being shown in dottedlines. I

* S1milar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

Before explamiug in detail the present it 1s desired to have it understood that the invention is not limited to thev .details of construction and arrangement of parts- .whichare illustratedin the accompanying -drawings,since the" invention is capable of other e-embodiments, and that the a phraseology which is employed is for the purpose r K of description and not-of limitation.

In the' preferred form thereof herein shown and described,.the cap, which is usu ally used with a suitable liner 2 to effect a tight seal is constructedfof relatively thin rolled edge, preferably in the form of a curl improvement. and mode of operation thereof,

sheet metaland comprises a tbp 3, which in the present instance'has either no V-shaped grooveor a very sli ht one therein, and a depending. skirt or ange 4 having therein around the 'same suitable reinforcements in the form of corrugations 5' located between the top and the strengthened, rolled or curled edge and which corrugations serve, among.

other advantages, to strengthen the flange, the projections, and the cap generally. Q

corrugations may be brought relativelyclose to the projections or lugs, thereby assisting materially in reinforcing them. These 001'- rugations also materially assist in the pro r registration and positioning of the cap intween the forming rolls during the'making 10f the cap. The lower edge of the skirt or flange is provided with. a strengthened or or head 6 and preferably formed by bending or curling the lower raw edge of the skirt outwardly into engagement with the outer side of the skirt or flange, thereby practically concealing the raw edge and protectin the hands of the user from being cut as we as protecting the raw edge from attacks of acids, moisture and rust, which protection is very. highly desirable in caps of this general construction. 9

7 of the curled edge radially toward the center of the cap, and compressing or somewhat flattening this part of the bead. Some of the various ways of doing this are set forth in my patents hereinbefore referred to and need not'be again described-in detail herein. At the rear (as the ca is turned on to the container) of each 0 the horizontally located holding lugs or projections '1, the .skirt is provided with an inwardlyextending vertical project-ion 8 whichin the present instance is formed by making one of the inwardly extending cor gations larger or deeper whereby it wil engage the outer wall or face of the glass thread as the cap is turned on to the container.

. The location of the vertical projection I in the rear of the'horizontal lug rmits the inner face or wall 9 of the vertical projection see Fig. 3 to extend acrossand to contact with theouter face .01 wall 10 of the container-thread 11, and not 0111 conters the cap durin the application t erect to the container ut,.prevents transverse movement thereof if for any reason the this improved form of cap the ends of the I container threads arebelow the minimum size, or .weightis placed upon the capv top.

. It also increases the frictional resistance of the cap on the container threads. I have found it desirabletolocate each of these vertical projections, which may be obtained by deforming the skirt or one of its corrugations, at the point where it will have its greatest holding efliciency when the lug 7 is in tight engagement with the under face of a glass thread, that is, when the lug 7 .is fully pressed home, and as this usually would be the point where the glass thread and the projection 8 have the greatest surface c0n'tact,'and therefore where the ture, or arrangement, it is not intended to limit the invention beyond the terms of the several claims or the requirements of the prior art.

Having thus explained the nature of my said invention, and described a way of con structing and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made, or'all of the modes of its use, I claim:

1. A metal cap comprising a top having a depending skirt provided with holding means effective to engage under a container thread orprojection having its outer face of non-wedge-shaped construction, and with holding means effective to engage a small part ml of the length of the'outer face of the container thread.

2. A metal capcomprising a top having a depending skirtprovided with holding -means to engage under an inclined rojection of a container, and means exten ing perpendicular of the skirt for preventing the backward riding of said holding means on the inclined projection of the container.

3. A metal cap comprising a top having a depending skirt .provided with holding means to engage under an-inclined projection of a container having its outer face of non-wedge-shaped construction, and means for preventing the backward riding of said holding means on the inclined projection of the container, and comprising an enlarged projection in the skirt of the cap effective to engage less than half the length of said inclined projection. 4. A metal cap comprising a top having gage the outer face of a container projeccontainer.

a depending skirt provided I with holding means to engage under an inclined projec: tion of a container, and means .forrev-enting thebackward riding of said: olding' means on the inclined projection of the con v tainer and comprising an enlargpd projection in the skirt .ofthe cap in t e' formof a corrugation. v v ,5. A metal capcomprising atop havin "a depending skirt provided with an inwardly extending holding means, and spaced therefrom to the rear thereof means adapted to engage the outer face of a container projection or thread having its outer face of non-wedge-shaped construction.

6. A metal cap comprising a top having a depending skirt provided .with an inwardly extending holding lug and in the rear thereof a vertical projection adapted to ention or thread.

7. A metal cap comprising a top having a depending skirt provided with an inwardly extending holding lug and .in the rear thereof a vertical projection adapted to engage the outer faceof a container projection or thread, said rear projection comprising an enlarged or deepened corrugation.

8. A metal cap comprising a top and :1 depending skirt having a horizontally located lug adapted to. engage under the thread or projection of a container, and a vertically located projection adapted to engage the outer face of the thread of the 9. A metal cap comprising a top and a depending skirt having a series of reinforcements or corrugations, and also having a holding lug and in the rear thereof a projection formed from one of said corrugations for engaging the outer face of a container thread.

10. A cap comprising a top and a depending skirt having a strengthened lower, edge provided with an inwardly extending lug formed therefrom, and spaced therefrom to the rear thereof a projection adapted to engage the outer face of a container projection having its outer face of non-wedgeshaped construction.

11. A metal cap comprising a top provided with a depending skirt having similar reinforcements .therein, and a. strengthened rolled or-curled loweredge provided with an inwardly extending "lug, one pf said similar reinforcements spaced from and to the rear of said. lug being enlarged or deepened to engage the outer wall of'a container thread. i

12. A metal cap comprising a top and :1. depending skirt provided with two inwardly extending holding projections, one adapted engage the outer wall ofa container projection and of less width circumferentially than said first holding projection.

13.. A metal cap comprising a top and a depending-skirt provided with two holding projections, one a horizontally located holding projection and the other a vertically located holding projection effective to engage-the outer wall of said thread. 1

14. A sealed package comprising .a container having an inclined locking projection or thread, a closure thereon comprising a top and a depending skirt having therein means for sealing t e mouth of the container, said skirt having holding means engaging under the inclined face of the container thread, and non-wedge-shaped holding means engaging the outer face or wall of said thread.

15. The method of making a metalcap for threaded containers which consistsein forming a top with a. depending skirt, and

7 simultaneously with the pressing into said skirt of a series of similar reinforcements, pressing one of said similar relnforcements deeper than the others%rnd providing said skirt with a holding projection. at one side of said deep reinforcement.

- 16. The method of making a metal cap which consists in providing a top and a depending skirt, forming at the lower edge thereof a strengthened, rolled or curled edge, reforming the same to provide an inwardly extending holding means, and deforming the skirt to form a projection in; position to engage a part only of the outer wall 'of a 1 container thread having its outer face of ,non-wedge-shaped construction.

17. A' package comprising a container member and a closure member therefor, said 19. A package comprising a container member and a closuremember therefor, said members having cooperating holding means one of which is inclined, and one of said members also having holding means e'nagaging crosswise of the inclined holding means of the other member.

20. A' package comprising a container member and a closure member therefor, said members having cooperating holding means one of which is inclined and one of which is substantially straight, the member having the substantially straight holding means also having holding means engaging crosswise of the holding means of the other member, n

Signed at Brooklyn, N. Y. this 12th day of December 1923. 1 ,1

1 CHARLES HAMMER. 

